10 Steps to Making Money on eBay

Yes, you can make money on eBay. In fact, eBay is the easiest way to make a quick online income out of practically nothing. You can start off by selling the stuff that you don’t need any longer, such as books or baseball cards, and then, once you’ve built up a nice cash reserve, progress to something bigger, such as selling mobile phone accessories. eBay offers one of the easiest learning curves, and pretty much anyone should be able to ace the platform in no time at all. So, get started and just follow the 10 steps to making money on eBay here.

Step #1: The first thing to do is to set up your eBay account. It’s really very easy and hardly takes 5 minutes of your time. You will be given an option to own your own eBay store or list your items independently. Starting a basic eBay store costs just $15.95/month. If you don’t want to have your own store and would list your items, then you will be charged a small amount per listing – depending on their category. Once the formalities have been completed, it’s time to start selling.

Step #2: So what are you going to sell on eBay? You can start by selling your personal belongings that have a decent marketable value. You can sell your old smartphones, iPod or tablet. You can even sell an old car on eBay! Once you make some money, reinvest that back into eBay. Import cheap goods from China that have a strong demand in the marketplace – such as toys or laptop chargers – and sell them for a slightly higher price on eBay. This is a great way to make good money. eBay is one of the most popular sites in the world, so getting a good number of people to watch your products won’t be difficult at all.

Step #3: But before selling the items, you will have to take their photos for the listing. Never use stock photos, always use the actual photographs of the item, that showcase the product at various angles. Authentic photographs win you a lot of credibility on eBay.

Step #4: Next, describe the product as vividly as you can. Not a single detail should go unmentioned. The buyer should know everything – if you are selling a mobile phone and there’s a slight discoloring of the lower part, be sure to mention it. Don’t mislead the customer by describing your old iPod as being in a “mint condition” when it clearly isn’t. Be very accurate in your descriptions – otherwise you will be blacklisted on eBay because of negative feedback from disappointed buyers.

Step #5: Now, you want your items to be found in eBay. It won’t be easy given that you will face competition from thousands of other sellers. So, how to get discovered by customers in this crowd? You will have to optimize your listings on eBay. Use appropriate keywords in the titles and subtitles and use the right tags.

Step #6: Do your research on the hottest selling items on eBay. You can do this by doing a simple search for each category on the eBay website. Pay close attention to the number “eyeballs” that the best selling items in each category get. This should give you a good idea of what to sell on eBay next.

Step #7: It’s better to offer free shipping to your customers and include the cost of the shipping in the sales price of the item. It’s nothing more than a neat psychological trick as customers love it when shipping is free – they are even willing to pay more for a product as long as free shipping is offered!

Step #8: Being successful on eBay is all about customer service. Be nice and courteous to your customers. Answer queries in time and be respectful to each and every customer. You can grow on eBay only by getting positive customer feedbacks. Since it is difficult to get great customer feedback in the beginning, ask your friends and family to buy from you initially and give you great feedback.

Step #9: Don’t get upset by a negative feedback. Be polite and try to resolve the issue with the customer and request him or her to change the feedback to positive. Most customers actually do. If the buyer doesn’t like an item, refund them immediately. It’s not worth getting a negative feedback, even at the cost of a lost sale.

Step #10: Marketing your eBay store is important as well. Use the social media to your advantage. Spread the word about your eBay store among your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

Follow the 10 steps given here and pretty soon you will be able to achieve success on eBay.

I am a freelance ERP consultant based in Bangalore, India, and double up as a freelance writer in my spare time. My specialties include writing on technology, finance and politics. There is nothing I love more than reviewing the hottest tech products, and I hope to share my love of technology with you, the readers of Geekers Magazine, to inform, educate and entertain. I like constructive criticism, so if you guys have any advice or suggestions for me, I really would appreciate that. Ciao!
Raghav Hegde, Bangalore